Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

O'HARA, Mary Margaret

Singer-songwriter from Toronto, hailed for both dazzling vocal style and idiosyncratic songs, described by the Independent '89 as 'capable of all manner of loops and twists around some persistently affecting melodies'. She joined the Toronto band Songship '77, renamed the Go Deo Chorus at her behest '81 (derived from the Gaelic for 'eternal'); they broke up '83 but a band demo had brought her to the attention of Virgin, who recorded her debut album Miss America '88 in Canada and Wales. Songs such as 'Body's In Trouble', 'Dear Darling' and 'To Cry About' garnered critical acclaim; the lyrics do not necessarily adhere to the rules of English syntax or structure, while the music combined elements of folk, jazz and rock. For example, 'Year In Song', in its proto-arrangement, she described as gibberish words set to a pronounced bass pattern; in the end the mixture of blurred languor and sturdy economy added up to a seductive environment of loneliness. On stage her playful ad-libbing and quirky dancing around were uplifting rather than the act of a soul in torment; live versions of 'To Cry About' and 'When You Know Why You're Happy' recorded March '89 in London were released Nov. to coincide with a tour. She guested on Bruce Cockburn's 'Shipwrecked At The Stable Door' '89 and Morrissey's 'November Spawned A Monster' '90; her songs were covered by Mary Coughlan on Uncertain Pleasures '90 ('To Cry About') and compatriots Cowboy Junkies on The Caution Horses '90 ('You Will Be Loved Again'). O'Hara's recording career has been less than prolific; she contributed to Paul Haines/Darn It! '93 on American Clave, setting Haines's poetry; she also appeared in films Candy Mountain '86 and The Events Leading Up To My Death '91. Miss America was reissued on Koch '96 with a celebrity endorsement sticker from REM's Michael Stipe saying, 'One of the most powerful singers I've ever heard ... a performer of astonishing force.' Many acts have built a career on one record or hit; the cherished hope is that another Miss America will come.